309 Responses

Yes, well, I do acknowledge that these are strange times we live in. Funnily enough, in 1987, at the time of the last RWC that we won (and I'm not holding my breath, but one can only live in hope), I was in Wales on a little holiday. I have always been proud to call this lovely land my home, but none more so than when walking into a pub in Harlech as a stranger. The locals all started speaking in Welsh, and then noticed my "NZ is....." sweatshirt, and we were off and running. They were thrilled, I was thrilled, and temporary friends were made. This game, this one game that was played on Sunday, made me excited again, about a game I rarely bother with. And for that, and for everything it's brought to Auckland, both directly and indirectly, I am thankful.

merc, those events look great. I think that they might examples of how our culture can pick up the ball and run with big events (I'm so sorry for that metaphor, I just got it back from the shop).That is what I think a culture should be doing and sport, as a normal everyday activity will feed into it. I am wary of a country such as ours investing too much cultural significance in professional sport.

Not sure I'll bother just yet: I'll save the money and update my iPhone 3GS to a 4S eventually. After all, I watch shows more on my phone than on my TV, and will continue to do so unless NickFromFulham stops uploading.

Sorry I meant the AA, AAA, D type batteries that should be disposed of as best we can. My car battery I just replaced and traded yeah, I love those chats, when you drop off at ewaste collections it's like Arkwright meets Bill.I work in tech, it pains me to see the waste, a great deal.

Not sure I’ll bother just yet: I’ll save the money and update my iPhone 3GS to a 4S eventually. After all, I watch shows more on my phone than on my TV, and will continue to do so unless NickFromFulham stops uploading.

If you spend $170 on an Apple TV puck you'll be able to AirPlay the video from your 4S straight to the new TV you haven't bought yet. See how good I am at spending your money?

Now, I've talked a lot about sex, about kink, and gay rights, and feminism, and I have NEVER had anything close to the torrent of abuse I took for saying that. I'd get up in the morning, peek at my @replies, see it was still going, and close them up again.

It goes both ways. I don't like or enjoy rugby. Mostly the dislike comes from the fact I was forced to play it at school, was tall for my age and good at it I was told. I ended up in the 2nd 15 of a school with a rugby reputation but opted out by simply not turning up to practises because I was sick of being brutalised and being instructed to brutalise other people. And then told it was a skill.

I blocked #rwc and #rwc2011 from my twitter stream and it cut down the tweets I had no interest in.

That said, I have no problem with others enjoying or watching it (and I even watched a game in Auckland with friends although found little to change my earlier opinion).

Arriving back in Auckland week one of the tournament was quite surreal. Coming from a region (Asia) where you could be forgiven for not knowing the event was on - the nearby official RWC bar in BKK was showing soccer on opening night - it was overwhelming and in a way quite wonderful. The flags and the joy on the street was quite something. Everywhere you encountered kids buzzing out on it all.

I spent a few days looking at the facilities and work done and was hugely impressed by some (Wynyard 1/4 and the general viaduct area) and not so by others (the awfulness of The Cloud). I did the same in Wellington - the Wharf area was well cool - and in both places I thought things like the NZ on Screen displays were fantastic.

However - and it's a big however - despite making a point of not advancing my lack of passion for the game unless asked I repeatedly found myself in various less than comfortable situations.

Twice I was told I wasn't a real New Zealander. Once, very aggressively, in a bar in Wellington waiting for a friend, I was called a 'fag' when I innocently responded to a question.

A cab driver in Wellington refused to communicate with me after I told him I had no idea who was playing that weekend.

Talking to others, I know this sort if thing is not uncommon.

Given that I really only expressed my disinterest to about a dozen or so people I didn't know well, and only did so after being asked a question I wasn't willing to lie in response to, that's pretty disheartening and perhaps indicates a side of the national character that has also been accentuated by these games.

That feeling in the first week back had evaporated by week three and I was glad to be on a plane again.

The only time I've watched much recently was when I was too sick to get up & turn on my laptop, let alone watch a TV, so just picking up my phone & watching in bed was fine by me. Otherwise, I usually only turn on my TV to briefly watch the news (waste of time) and a bit of Simpsons re-runs. On the few evenings I spend at home I tend to have a puritan view that I ought to spend the time creating something (writing, designing, making music) or reading books, and if I actually went out and spent money on a TV and related gadgets I'd feel that I'd be encouraging my own laziness.

The problems I have with the whole thing are being told * it will affect me

(no,, actually it wont -except for the category outlined below)

* that, as a ratepayer & taxpayer, I should be satisfied that powers that be have loaded myself & family with longlasting debt , annnd*we should be grateful for that ( or at least not comment adversely on the whole matter.)

Yes, that is quite shit. I have a whole bunch of vague statements to fob off persistent inquiries, and changing the subject is the best tactic. It's annoying to have to do, but that kind of thing is by no means limited to rugby. Being asked how much I dig some kind of music that I don't know about is in the same bag. Or books. Or religion. Sometimes the safest is to just support them all. Or pick an obscure one, and claim it's what you're into.

Unless, of course, you like having arguments about the subject. Can't rule that out. I've been known to like arguing about some things.

ETA: An especially good fob is to claim that you get so into it, that you can't handle it any more. "Can't watch the All Blacks any more, get too tense, have to take my pills!"

Yeah, that was pretty much my point. And you can get over-reacted crabbiness from both "sides" which is down to their last half-dozen encounters rather than you. And I think it helps to understand that. I've blocked/filtered a few people and that's helped rather a lot.

And I can understand why people aren’t that fussed about Opera New Zealand staging the world premiere of a new work by a local composer at the International Arts Fest next year, or the pretty interesting line up Ethan Stiefel has for his debut season as the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

But I get a wee bit fucked off at New Zealand singers and dancers (many of whom are, yes, among the best in the world at what they do) being sneered at. I’d like to put your average boofhead in a rehearsal studio with 70 year-old Jon Trimmer for a week and see who's left standing at the end of it.

I completely understand the non interest and in saying that I will watch on Sunday, then... that will be it.I still don't understand the rules and I really don't care either. I am glad for our friends who have worked really hard to feed all the punters at the Cavalier Tavern, during drinks, during games, and I'm glad they have "creamed it" for the last 6 weeks (?) I'm appalled about 'The tupperwaka" What a waste of money that was. Costs are a huge issue here, surely, when we are amongst a bunch of events that are already gigantic costs. So each to their own I say. Bagging on others that don't have the same likes is just stupid. Jus' sayin.